It could be next year before a lawsuit filed, last week, by two fired Columbus City Schools principals goes to trial.

Darlene Chavers is an attorney for Tiffany Chavers and Pamela Diggs. Darlene Chavers said a pre-trial hearing is set for mid-June.

â€œThereâ€™s always the possibility for continuances,” she said. “So thereâ€™s still quite a while before we get any kind of resolution of this matter.â€

Tiffany Chavers and Diggs want their jobs back. They also seek $400,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. The womenâ€™s firing came out of the districtâ€™s data rigging scandal.

The lawsuit contends the former principals were coerced to break enrollment of students with excessive absences and poor test scores and re-enroll them, a process meant to improve the districtâ€™s achievement scores.

â€œItâ€™s important to realize these individuals were actually taking direction from their superiors, their immediate supervisors, as well as others above them,” Darlene Chavers said. â€œTheyâ€™re kind of scapegoats for the entire district. And thatâ€™s unfortunate to pick on four individuals who were doing what they were told to do.â€

Four principals were suspended in January. Two later resigned. Tiffany Chavers and Diggs were fired.

The school districtâ€™s attorney has yet to respond to a request for comment. No attorneys are listed for any of the lawsuit’s defendants.

Columbus City Schools look poised to reorganize their administration after school board members signed off on interim superintendent Dan Goodâ€™s plan to give more decision-making power to principals and teachers.